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Changing the World & Challenging Yourself with Natalie Franke

Anchored Podcast

Natalie Franke is a freaking powerhouse! I loved being able to have her on the podcast and hear about the way she has changed a whole industry! If you know anything about her, Natalie started the Rising Tide Society and now has transitioned to working for Honeybook!

What I love about this episode is that it wasn’t the basic, tell me your story, I mean it was that, but this was so much deeper! We talked about the struggles that a lot of us have, who are we, if not a photographer! one of the greatest struggles many of us have when it comes to our job, is that it becomes our identity, it because who people think we are. Well, Natalie stepped out of that role, and she talks about how she overcomes those emotions and struggles with her identity.

We talked about limited ourselves as entrepreneurs and how we aren’t bound by job titles. One of my favorite topic we tackled was the need for affirmation that plagues our industry. So many people are trying to impress other people without really serving our clients.

We talked about:

Knowing where your true worth and value lies

Constructive criticism is crucial in shaping the most important things. When advice or criticism comes from a good place, don’t ignore it.

Time

Feedback is critical to business and person development

Competition is not inherently a bad thing

One way for someone to implement video into their business

The importance of resilience in an entrepreneur

I can go on and on about what we talked about; I think you should listen to the podcast episode!

Also, one of the most impactful moments of the whole podcast was when Natalie revealed what she learned from being diagnosed with a brain tumor and having to fight through that. This woman is a real inspiration!

Here are her photos for this segment of What the gram!

And if you want to check out her Vlog in the salt flats, you can see it here:

Transcript:

Devin 0:00
What’s up listeners out there. And welcome back to another episode of The anchored business podcast. I can’t tell you guys how excited I am to be here. There have been a lot of things going on over here. I just to get you guys updated, we have opened up a kind of a whole associates brand of our business. So now we have associates shooting under our business, which is so great — three excellent photographers, second shooters and a cinematographer. So we have expanded a little bit our shop is awesome. We’ve you know what today’s Today’s episode is sponsored by

The Instagram course I know that sounds a little crazy. But guys seriously this course has been so so cool. I have heard nothing, but great things and I’m not like trying to own horn or anything but like really there are people in our Facebook group that had been like I’ve used this for two days and gotten like three inquiries just off of barely not even finishing the course yet. So it’s really cool. So if you guys want to check that out, it’s only 100 I think it’s like $99 on our in our store also launched if you have a show it site this is really cool if you guys have a show it site we just launched our pricing page template if you have a showing show excite you can actually get that template and just put it onto your show it site, so we do like you know like, for example, you could be like my pricing dot whatever your business name is calm, and so I’m also working on more generic pricing pages like PDF ones too. So there’s all kinds of things in there so if you want to go ahead and head on over to the Shopify store it is the anchored store calm and then use the code podcast to get 15% off. So make sure you guys go over and check that out. Also, we have a nother review to read today. So review who’s review who’s done you guys can name that reference. What is that? Blue’s Clues. Little throwback there. Alright, this review comes from Tony double oh seven. Which I know who that is. That is Tony Christine, who we recently had on the podcast. This girl, You guys, gotta go check her out. She has Episode 34 on the podcast. Make sure you go check it out. Because that girl spits hot fire. Like seriously, she absolutely killed it. And she says here, guys. I mean, really, these two are incredible. You won’t find more interesting or informative interviews anywhere else. The podcast is a must listen for any photographers or even other business owners. Exclamation point, exclamation point, exclamation point. Get ready to take notes and being inspired Tony girl; you are like incredible. Thank you so much. You are the bomb.com. I appreciate that five-star review. And so anybody else out there if you this is helpful. And you want to leave a review that helps us in iTunes. And just to get found and we would love to give you a shout out to so thank you for that guys. Make sure you follow her on Instagram at Tony Christine and listen to her podcast episode. Now we are about to jump into one episode that I am so so so so so excited about today. We have on Natalie Frank who is the absolute best. Like if you guys know anything about her. This girl is you know, so she actually started the rising tide society. And this girl is making some serious tsunami waves like she is just killing it. And so having her on today where we talk about her life, we talked about what like things that have gone on in her life and the way that’s impacted her in the way that she runs her business and the way that she hopes to influence the rest of the world and how she even met Gary Vee. Yeah, that’s right. She met Gary freakin van or track. I’m so jealous of her. But she is amazing. And so guys, I’m so excited for you to listen to this podcast. So like if you are driving, I don’t know, you can’t really take any notes. Maybe you want to pull over something. Or if you are doing something else, like get a notepad out, get a piece of paper, pen, whatever. Like you could get a stone and some kind of graphite and just start writing down stuff. I don’t know, chalk anything because you are going to want to take these notes because this girl is killing it. And so I’m excited for you guys to listen. So I’m gonna stop talking. Now. Enjoy this episode.

Alright, everybody and welcome to another episode of The anchored business podcast today. I can’t tell you how excited and fortunate and honored I am to have today’s guest on today is Miss Natalie Frank. If you don’t know who she is, like, seriously, there’s some kind of rock that you’ve been living under. Because I’m serious. Like, because Natalie, like I’ve known about you for years, you may not have any idea who we are. Which is like, I’m sure that you run into that all the time. But like Natalie, you have what’s really encouraging for me is like people like she is shifting and changing the way that community is like goes about in our industry and also in other industries as well. And it’s super encouraging. Like she’s gone from shooting weddings, absolutely killing it at a wedding. And then focusing and transitioning into a role that really kind of just like, I feel like feeds her soul. Hopefully, I’m getting that right feeds her. So but then also in that, it’s also just helping like millions like, I don’t think so understands the breadth and the width in which she reaches, and her influence reaches as well. And so it is so so encouraging to have her on today. And so encouraging to understand and see like the lives that she’s impacting and touching and she just has no idea. And so like I love that about her and the legacies leaving in that. And so today I’m just super pumped to talk to you. So, Natalie, I guess you could say hey to everybody and tell everybody kind of like who you are and what you do if you want to go from there. But I just had to let everybody know that you are freaking the bomb. And I’m so excited to have you on here.

Natalie Franke 5:33
What an intro. How do I even talk that that was incredible? I whenever I’m having a bad day, I’m just going to re-listen to that. Because that was the kindness introduction, I’ve ever received. But now I am so honored to be here. And so excited to be just chatting with you today on the podcast I we were chatting about this actually prior to hopping on. But we’ve run in the same circle of friends in the photography industry for ever and just haven’t had a chance to really connect and cross paths. So very thrilled and excited to get the opportunity to do that today. And hopefully in person in the very near future. But I yeah, I mean, I am a wedding photographer by trade. So that’s what I did full time for just over eight years. And then shortly sort of towards the end of that full-time photography career, something happened. And I created a community with other photographers called the rising tide society. And it is an organization of, you know, creative entrepreneurs, small business owners and freelancers that all believe in this concept of community over competition. So when we started rising tide and launched that, you know, it just grew incredibly quickly and incredibly, you know, exponentially, especially in that first year that I made the decision It was very scary as any kind of transition is to step out from doing weddings full time into sort of this new space of community building and leading community in sort of the creative economy. And so I did that with the support of an amazing company that I work for today called honey book. And it’s just been this fascinating journey ever since. So my title is head of community at honey book, and I’m a co-founder of the rising tide society. And I get to work sort of, in between the tech space and the actual community building efforts of small business owners to improve their day to day lives. And so that’s what I do every day,

Devin 7:17
girl, I love it. You are killing it. That’s so awesome. So like, you got your hand and a bunch of different things. Because I as I understand you, you haven’t put down completely wedding photography. So you’re still shooting as well. I have you moved to a whole new part of the country almost, like started running a different type of business and then joining another business. And so like for you, what was that transition? Like? Because, like, we’re just going to dive right in? I’m sorry, is that a that okay? Let’s do it. Okay, cool. Like you had because for me, that’s, that’s just kind of how I love to do it is dive in and get down to it. Because there’s so much to unpack, I think like the one you, you faced, probably a lot of fears, kind of making that transition. And so for you, what was that like, like moving to another part of the country, joining us another company and then also like running what seems to be a community that’s very online driven. And so what what what kind of white hurdles Have you had to jump over? And what was the fear of transitioning like,

Natalie Franke 8:12
I wish we had like, three days to talk about fears and, and just hurdles because I think that, you know, again, we live in this world where what everyone gets to experience is the highlight reel of my transition. And it’s sort of like, Oh, yeah, Natalie, she does these great things. And, you know, like, the intro to the podcast, all those things are true. But what’s also true is, you know, sort of the day to day real mess that I get to walk through. And that’s where the magic really happens. That’s where you learn, and you grow. And so, you know, I think if I had to summarize, I think the biggest fears were truly just in moving kind of transitioning from one network, one family, one community that I had on the east coast to build a brand new one on the west coast. And that, you know, isn’t something that should be overlooked. Because anyone who’s ever moved, I have a lot of friends that are in the military or married to someone in the military. And they move frequently. And one of the biggest things I hear from those members, our community because we actually have a whole chapter just for military members. And rising tide, you know, is that those moves are incredibly difficult. And I experienced a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of that. And that was really overwhelming. But I think the biggest thing of all of it, you know, moving from weddings into sort of a tech space into a startup space was the concept of identity. And this is something that I think everybody can relate to, which is, when you build a business today, you build a business and a brand, and you’re taught to do so around your, your personal identity, you incorporate your values, you incorporate your story, you incorporate who you are, and what you love, and what you do into your personal brand, and into your business online, through things like Instagram, Facebook, and so forth. And in the process, what begins to happen, and I don’t know, again, if you’ve experienced this, my gut says, you probably have, I know, a lot of photographers do is that you begin to connect your business, your personal identity, and you begin to feel like, you know, being a photographer, or many of us is more than just a job, it is a part of who we are, and it becomes a part of who we are. And so the biggest struggle that I dealt with, to be really honest, is trying to overcome my fears of, you know, answering a very simple question, which is, who am I, if not a photographer, and the amount of weight that we place in that status of having that title, or in that status of having that online business in that ability to have those relationships, you begin to worry, you know, who am I, if not, you know, the photographer that’s known in my area, to, you know, be this person and do these things and support my clients in this way, who am I. And so for me, it was really like a deep dive into my identity. And if anyone’s ever transitioned from one career to another, or moved from one city to another, or lay down one business and started something new, you know, that that realization that you are so much more than the job title that you carry that you can take skills from one career or one business and transition them into a new space, you don’t have to leave that behind in the process that you know, everything you’re learning today, while building a photography business, or being a creative entrepreneur, or starting a freelance or side hustle, all of those skills are going to build into whatever you go on to do next, and that we’re not trapped or limited into one, you know, area in, in entrepreneurship, which sometimes people feel that way. A lot of the clients that I mentor and the business owners and I mentor, they express that because, you know, I’ve been shooting weddings for ten years. But I’d love to try x. And it might be outside of the scope of what they’re used to. And they’re like, but I, you know, I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know if I can do that. I don’t know if I need permission to do that. And so I think for me, it was coming to grips with the fact that, you know, I will always be a photographer, he mentioned, you know, I still shoot weddings here and there, I’m shooting one. You know, in Miami, I’ve shot a couple this year, mainly for other photographers. But that’s because I love it right, about making money doing that anymore. And actually, I joke A lot of times, you know, I say, I used to, when I ran a business, I made even more money than I make today, I’m what I doing today is because it’s a part of my heart. And it’s my passion. And that one day might change as well. But I’ve learned to be open to that. And I’ve learned that our identities are not just bound to that job title. And they’re not just bound to that, you know, when hundred and 40 characters in a tweet, or a bio and Instagram or however, we, you know, using words to describe ourselves, we are so much more than that, all of us. And we are so dynamic in our skill sets, and our knowledge and our potential. And we all have the ability to learn and to grow and should have the freedom to do that.

Devin 12:22
Yeah, I love that. Okay. So I love that you talked about identity, because, like, for me, and understanding that, like, understanding where my identity comes from, is such a huge part of who I am, and my faith and, and in my marriage, because, like, what I understand where my identity comes from, I understand who doesn’t hold my identity, which is alive, like a lot of these social media kind of, so there are groups and so like for you, I want to, I want to ask a quick question. It’s just like, okay, so somebody’s listening that are in these groups are in these types of things. And, and there’s hate, you know, there are haters out there, guys. And I know our girls, listen,

listen, I know, for fact, you have dealt with this in the rising tide. No, girl, I know, you’re teasing. So just like I know, for a fact, you’ve dealt with this in the rising tide society, from, from haters on like, race in relations to how successful you are, or to your to the things that you’ve done, and the rising tide in general. And so for somebody who’s listening, like struggling with keeping up with an Honestly, I see this more than ever, it’s such an epidemic in our culture and in this industry is people will do something in their job for people who don’t pay them, right, like so they’ll they’re taking photos for these couples are doing for people who don’t even pay them like in these Facebook groups, so they can post and get this affirmation from people in groups. And so for you like, and just for advice for other people? How do you feel like somebody can come and navigate the waters of net, the needing affirmation and this sense of identity from people in these groups and finding that somewhere else? You know,

Natalie Franke 13:52
Oh, my gosh, what an incredible question. I look, I think the biggest thing is that you just pointed out the fact that we do as human beings desperately crave affirmation. And I think, you know, we have to remember. And I talked about this a lot, especially working in tech and beginning to become more exposed to platforms like Facebook and Instagram, and understanding the tools they have at their disposal and the resources, they have to not only create these sort of mechanisms that increase our addiction to the platforms. For example, understanding that notifications, increase someone’s desire to want to check back and see if they’re being liked to see if their work is worthy to see if they’re, you know, being made popular, or what others think of them, and understanding how those mechanisms work. But the fact that these platforms study the human brain, they know exactly what creates this addiction in this desire for affirmation. And they create these positive feedback loops that just leave us wanting more constantly wanting more and constantly looking to these platforms, into the followers on these platforms to tell us that we are worthy to tell us that we are enough. And the truth is that none of our worth none of our value lives on our phones or on the internet. It lives in our hearts and in our souls. And so I think that you know, the biggest bit of advice that I would give anybody is to really understand where your worth and your value comes from. And to know that it is completely separate from the persona that you create online. That’s the first thing I also think though, you know, you mentioned haters and, and things like that. And we’ve all we’ve all dealt with that. And I began again, because I mentor a lot of creatives that are starting to teach. So I’m at this place where I’m not I’ve been teaching for a long time, but I mentor educators. And when they start to step into the spotlight in a unique way they experience sort of negativity and criticism and, and sometimes haters that they’ve never experienced before. And, you know, obviously I’ve dealt with this and some of that criticism, criticism has been incredibly valuable. Some of that criticism has actually shaped you know, the direction of how I’ve led the community; it’s forced me to question things, it’s forced me to open up to admit places where we can improve. And I think that again, it’s important to mention that because sometimes we get quick to write off all our haters and say, like, you know, ignore that ignore the hate. And I’ve heard people say it on podcasts. I’ve heard friends of mine; they like just ignore it. But the truth is, when you can find someone that gives positive, you know, negative feedback to you that they can really care that cares ultimately about what you’re doing, and wants to see you succeed and is giving you criticism in a way that you know, is truthful and is honest, that’s where some of our best, you know, sort of decisions have come from in terms of rising tide, and honey buckets, that user feedback that says, hey, I love the product. But here at ten things I wanted proof, or Hey, I love the community. But I don’t see XYZ represented here. Or I don’t know if you guys are aware of this thing unfolding. I don’t know if you guys knew about why. And so what’s crucial about that is that those individuals that come forward are being incredibly brave. And when delivered in the right way, that criticism can shape the direction of our entire trajectory. As humans, as business owners, when a client comes forward, and says, Hey, I really loved everything about the experience for this one thing, you know, don’t be too quick to write them off. That’s like, one bit of advice I want to give is like, when it comes from a good place, don’t be too quick to just kind of write somebody off. Because I can tell you from personal experience that all of us, especially myself, are imperfect, and we are flood. But when you look at what really matters, and leaders and, and entrepreneurs, it’s not that they are perfect it is that they have integrity. And that means, you know, ultimately, that they do the right thing that they constantly strive to be earnest and honest and forthcoming, and that when they do make mistakes, they admit it, and they try to move forward. And so that, to me, is the gold, right, the golden sort of that online feedback loop that we get. But when it comes to just the noise, you know, and, and the people sitting, I like to think of them as like, sitting up in the bleachers watching what you’re doing. And kind of just like shouting at you from afar, you know, those voices might not be coming forward in a way that is with good heart and good intention. And so in those cases, absolutely, you just have to continue to remember where your worth is, your value is, and have those people that do care that you can go to for feedback. And that ultimately can help direct your business or your life, your personal decisions. And, you know, for me, that looks like obviously, my team, it looks like friends that have cultivated in the industry over the last 10 years, you know, it’s my family, it’s mentors, you know, both on a personal basis on a faith basis, you know, in a business way on all of that. So, whatever that looks like for you. But I get it all goes back to this idea. I think that we live in a world where people are very quick to express, you know, feelings on the internet because they are disconnected from the person on the other side. And, and they’re not able to see that person to see how their words impact that person. Their mirror neurons do not fire that is sort of the empathy center of the brain, they do not fire when someone’s typing on a keyboard, about how somebody stupid or ugly or fat and those things I’ve all gotten those comments personally like, those are things that you people tight because something’s hurting inside themselves. It is not a reflection of the person on the other side all the time, it really often stems from their own pain, but that keyboard and that gap between computer to the person on the other side, it creates a space where words are sort of whipped around like weapons and keyboards, it can become incredibly detrimental to, to sort of the dialogue and actually to make change and improving sort of all of our lives. And so what I believe and I’ve always believed this, and this is what our community stands on, is that you know, we have to be able to also sit down together face to face, and to really connect on a deeper level with one another. Like, that’s where community of our competition really sort of started and blossomed. It wasn’t that we use the hashtag on Instagram. And suddenly the world changed. It was two photographers sitting side by side who competed in the same market, expressing their vulnerabilities, their frustrations, their struggles, their insecurities and recognizing the both of them despite the fact that they competed or human beings deserving of respect and deserve you know, of fulfillment in their lives. And things change when you recognize that your competitors are just doing the best they can just like you, they’re struggling just like you, that person you put on a pedestal who you think has it all together you think is perfect, you think, you know, has the perfect life and and everything about them is just gold. And you know, the ground they walk on, it just kind of unfolds before them perfectly. Those people are struggling just like you. And that’s the magic that I believe can happen when we sit down face to face in person and just have honest conversations. And that’s what rising tide really started to do. And really continues to try to do every single month on Tuesday’s together.

Devin 20:38
That’s awesome. Girl. You better preach right now. Dang. Okay. That is amazing. I love that. And I love that you talked about like feedback and honest feedback. And taking that because I personally like I always say, and I think there’s that feedback is the breakfast of champions. Like I 100% believe that whether it’s good or it’s bad. And so for you, I think in understanding that I think there’s a lot of people who are like, Okay, well, I don’t like Uber’s and Rose me in the wrong way. But then there’s a lot of truth in a lot of feedback. And so for you, how important do you think like, honestly, as a business owner from somebody who has running had has run her own business and now works with other people and made that transition? How important do you think self-awareness in getting feedback and, and making transitions to working with other people and things like that are for you. And in personally, your success as a business owner, and a businesswoman that is slaying it wherever she goes, You know what I’m saying

Natalie Franke 21:30
feedback is critical. I would I mean, I dare to say like, feedback is nearly everything. But I think feedback is critical to any business. And also just personal development. You know, I’ll give an exact example. You know, I ran a business. Obviously, my photography business for eight years, I did incredibly well from a financial perspective in that business. But I never managed a team, right; I had my second shooters, my assistance, I’d never managed a team in like a formal setting, I step into base here in the tech world. And for the first time in my life, I’m not only managing a team hiring and firing, and it was an incredible wake up call for me to recognize that those entrepreneurial skills that made me a complete, you know, success in one small niche of my business life didn’t prepare me to lead a team, there’s a lot of had to learn, there’s still a lot of learning every day. But what I also ultimately tried to do, and what we do here at honey book, and it’s really crucial to the company culture is to have an environment of feedback where someone after a meeting can say to you, hey, do you have a second, Hey, I just want to give you some feedback on the way you responded to that question, or I want to give you some feedback on you know, you should allude to this person in sooner, or you should have, you know, maybe, you know, empowered this person a little bit more when they gave their idea, or you could have handled XYZ better. And it was incredibly eye-opening, it has been incredibly eye-opening for me, to me over the last, you know, two years of leading a team to learn that we can grow and we can evolve, you know, individuals by getting that feedback in the right time, you know, sort of real-time delivery, and in the right way from people that really want to see us succeed, and really want to set us up for success. So, when you look at a small business, I’m always surprised by how few photographers creative small business owners survey their clients after the client experience has ended, or how many of them you know, when somebody turns them down for work, maybe after they’ve met for a consultation. And they’ve gone through a lot of effort and nurturing that lead, you know, they don’t, they don’t land the opportunity only in the contract. And very rarely does anyone just asked like, Hey, I would just love like, some quick feedback on what I can do to improve because there’s this fear, I think of being wrong, we all have this fear of being wrong, we have this fear of, you know, when we put in so much heart and so much effort, and just so much passion in life into our work, not being able to, like I said, with self identity, almost push ourselves back and recognize that, you know, somebody criticizing our work or somebody criticizing maybe our business policies, or the way we operate is not a criticism on our worth, or value, and individually, right. It’s, it’s an opportunity for us to grow and an opportunity for us to improve. And so, you know, I think, whether it’s serving clients or trying to understand, you know, maybe why somebody chose somebody else, or different business, but from a very positive perspective, like, hey, you’re gonna have an amazing experience with this photographer, this creative, I know them, they’re wonderful, again, that mindset of community over competition and abundance, you know, somebody else is going to come along, and they’re going to book you next. So don’t don’t, you know, don’t worry, and don’t, don’t come from a negative place. But try it coming from a place of understanding and a desire to understand, improve, I think, can do wonders. And for me, you know, as a photographer, I started when I was 18, and very few people wanted to work with a teenager and, you know, pay them three $4,000 to shoot their wedding. And so I had to learn very early on through feedback and just understanding, you know, what my clients were looking for how to establish my business in a way that was perceived as professional and was ultimately at the end, you know, I sort of perceived as the best in my hometown, and, you know, knowing how other vendors and other wedding professionals would speak about my business when a client walks through the door. And, you know, I heard things for instance, like, you know, if a client came into this one florist, for instance. And they said, she asked, you know, who are you looking after your photographer, and they mentioned, they were looking at me, you know, the response would be something like, Well, good luck getting her because she books up like crazy, or, you know, Oh, my gosh, you know, we just worked a wedding together last weekend, and she delivered all this huge Sneak Peek to all of us so that we could share it on social media. And, you know, just working with her was so easy and to be able to understand, like, what are those key influential mechanisms based on feedback that I would hear from the clients and saying, I met with this florist she wouldn’t stop talking about you, or this wedding planner said, there’s no way I’m even going to be able to book you for the wedding. Because you’re so popular in this in your hometown. And hearing those things made me understand the value of those relationships and the value of ultimately cultivating those relationships. And it was less about my Instagram following and less about, you know, how that looked on the outside and more we’re about the hard work of being good to people and doing right by the people you work with every day. And so that feedback changed everything, you know, I started investing more time in those relationships. And I saw that completely changed the trajectory of my business and completely shift, you know, how I ultimately invested that time, and where I even put money, you know, holiday gifts and thoughtful gifts. And people went through a tough time, or just taking time to show up for other professionals cultivating that community like I did, and that that changed everything for me. And it shifted everything for me. And so I think regardless of what business you’re in, getting that feedback and starting to just pay attention to user experience, and what you’re hearing from your clients, you know, taking note of it, and actually leveraging that as a way to optimize can really improve your overall outcome. Cool. I love that. And,

Devin 26:47
and going off of that, like, I think when it’s an entrepreneur or solo printer, I think it’s, it’s super lonely, right? Like, it’s really lonely industry, where you’re kind of feel like you’re doing everything on an island. And yeah, there’s a lot of other people that do it, like, do the same thing you’re doing or like, have a similar job, kind of as you do. But how important is like this idea of community over competition, like, and what I love is that you and another, another photographer just sat down and shared your struggles. And in that one, it probably helped you grow and help you with to kind of deploy self-awareness in your business and, and all kinds of things like that. But how important is this idea? And like, what kind of Why are you so passionate about community over competition within our industry? And then one I think, okay, so sorry, I’m giving you like a couple of questions here. But one like thinking of rising tide society, I think like when they raise a banner, the banner is a community of a competition. And then you know, I think it’s, I’m I don’t know why I’m struggling with it. But it’s like high tides raise all ships or waves raise all ships. boats.

Yeah, rising, a rising tide lifts all de that’s what it is clearly,

because rising tide I just can’t remember exactly what rising tide lifts all boats, like, how do you feel like the that the current mission flex the original, like the original founding mission that you started, you know, what I’m saying is like, as it’s grown, and honestly, as you start something like that it’s not financially motivated. But, you know, you do have people who are investing into it financially and you want to, you want to either appease those people or you have because you have employees that you have to pay now, like, um, do you feel like that your, your current missions align with what the initial goal was, when you first started rising tide? society and, and community or competition? So,

Natalie Franke 28:28
so many? Good question. So, no, this is awesome. So let’s start with a community of our competition as a concept. And then let’s talk about like, the original founding mission, you know, sort of like versus where we are today, and how you have to shift and what’s kind of changed and all of that. So, you know, starting with community over competition as a concept, I always like to clarify, whenever I talk about it, that if someone is not super familiar with our ideology, and like, where this entire concept sort of stems from, they might at first assume that we’re saying that competition is a bad thing, which I always love to clarify, and just remind people that it’s not competition is not inherently bad. I think that it has incredible opportunities, if it’s used for things like innovation, pushing us forward, kind of lighting that fire for us to improve when we see somebody else, you know, rocking it, and doing amazing things, and really excelling in their space. So I am not a competition hater, by any means. But what I do believe, and what I think all of us in rising tide believe is that, you know, competition deserves to be within a certain framework, meaning that it doesn’t extend to things like, you know, pushing others down, so that you can succeed or, you know, operating on ethically and writing negative reviews for our competitors, that their businesses work so that your seems more successful and well liked. And unfortunately, those are things we see all the time and have seen all the time in the creative space. So what we believe is that people should come first. And that community should just rise above the competition, that we should never do something to harm somebody else. It’s very Golden Rule. It’s very basic in it’s in its overall sort of thought process. So competition is not a bad thing. We just believe putting people first and really looking out for one another is sort of the way we should live in the way we should operate as business owners. That’s sort of the core of it. Now, I could go on to talk about things like abundance and scarcity mindset; these terms have become incredibly, you know, overuse sort of in the last year, with just how we approach business is a little bit different. Just understanding that there is enough to go around, we really believe that, especially right now we’re operating in a very entrepreneurial world are seeing a shift currently in the market overall, this and some great studies that have recently come out talking about things like, you know, by 2020, 50% of the population will be freelancing, we’re seeing more, you know, small businesses being created by millennials. And it’s it’s sort of this shift that’s occurring, that’s opening up new opportunities, and also creating a really interesting dynamic between traditional work and what the future of work will look like. So we just believe that we want to establish an overall economy, we’re calling it the creative economy, some people call it the freelance economy, but we want to create a creative economy that is based on values that we believe sets people up for success. And that we believe create sort of an overall view of this, of this trajectory of being an entrepreneur that is fulfilling, that isn’t something that is, you know, based and tearing others down or routed and sort of a direction of being negative, and trying to, you know, destroy competition, but rather cultivating a unique business that has differentiation in the market and is providing something of tremendous value to clients, and just a different mindset, a different way of thinking of business. So that’s sort of the overview of it. Now, when we started this, you know, it’s funny, like, I look back, and it still blows my mind that it was just a bunch of people sitting around a table in a coffee shop in Annapolis, Maryland, talking about the concept. That’s how rising tide started. And then as you mentioned, you know, what ends up happening, and I shall say, when we launched rising tide, it was not a business like it was, it was, I even heard of an organization, it was like a passion project, summer project, Summer of 2015, let’s get people together, let’s sit down and have these conversations because we’re sick and tired of being alone, feeling lonely, and just constantly comparing ourselves to other people. Like there has to be a better way. And so this was our first step towards a better way fast forward, you know, from May 2015 to about July. And all of a sudden, you know, we were not only preaching this message, but we ultimately have started to create these small grassroots communities and little cities, you know, all up and down the eastern seaboard. And by August, we were expanding to the west coast. And so there was this tremendous exponential growth that kind of left me feeling a little bit like, oh, gosh, you know, like, what have we done in like, a positive and a negative way going, this is huge, how the heck are we going to sustain this thing, you know, these leaders need resources, this community needs somebody that’s actually able to sit down full time and pay attention and really dig in, and, you know, ultimately support it. And so that’s for us where the relationship with honey book came in, you know, we met with the honeymoon team, we had already been working with other partners at the time, other brands that to this day, we have incredible relationships with, but something just really clicked. You know, ultimately, when we met with honey book, from the rising tide side, we were trying to improve the creative economy through community and honey book saw technology as a way to automate systems that people could spend less time doing the manual tasks that technology could take over and more time investing in the things that only uniquely they could do kind of flipping that, which is what we talked about a lot. So sort of the thought that you go into business, and you think you’re going to spend 80% of your time doing things you love and 20% of your time running the business, you realize very quickly, it’s actually the opposite, you really spend 80% of the time running the business 20% of the time doing what you love. So honey book is like, Look, if we can free people’s time up if we can improve their processes, if we can use technology to help the small business owners that’s gonna improve the creative economy. So we recognize that we were trying to accomplish something very similar, just from very different directions. So we actually merged, we became one company. And what that enabled me to do is to go full time and continue building RTS. So do we today still continue to live out that initial mission, I would say absolutely. I would even argue, you know, in a very different way than initially intended. Obviously, we’ve grown we’ve changed, we have over 400 chapters meeting every month, we provide resources to 10s of thousands, we do our very best to cultivate online communities as well, although offline connections are really at the end of the day, what we’re aiming for, I like to say we build a massive online community, we take those those connections, and we turn them into offline relationships. And that’s really what rising tide attempts to do. But surely, things have changed. I mean, you know, we, we now, you know, are part of the honey book, community, and ecosystem. And so, you know, we’re working on the tech side as well. And that has changed sort of our overall approach to things. We have opportunities we didn’t have before, but also responsibilities we didn’t have before. So, you know, it’s been a very long and, and very sort of Unexpected Journey in a lot of ways. But I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished and what we continue to accomplish. And the funny part is, you know, on our end, like, we’re very much just getting started. We have a lot of goals, especially for just the honey but community in a large, large, large sort of viewpoint that we think could really shake things up in the same way that rising tide did on day one. And so I’m really excited to continue exploring that and continuing to challenge sort of like, what the standards and the norms are in our industry and what we expect and anticipate when it comes to, you know, relationships with other creatives, access to resources, access to education, thinking through, you know, what this industry could look like, 10 years from now, and how we ultimately want to make sure that people are set up for success to build profitable businesses that really support their families. And that’s what I’m passionate about at the end of the day.

Devin 35:49
So awesome. Oh, I love it. I love it. Okay, we’re going to take like a quick little transition into one of my favorite parts of the show that I like to call what the graham, Okay, so Natalie, this is where I took some photos from your Instagram, and it’s just you kind of just explaining them. That’s okay.

Natalie Franke 36:05
Yeah, let’s do it.

Devin 36:06
Okay, awesome. Okay, so I’m going to kind of start this backup. Girl. You are slaying it. Thank you so much. So far. It’s been amazing. Thank you. Can you see Oh, dang? And what to look at all stop it. Oh, ten years. Cash. None of those are going to catch you by surprise. Now. Shoot. Anyways. Alright. And Natalie. Can you see this photo here? I do. Okay. Yeah, really quickly. For those who are listening. Because clearly as a podcast, you can’t see it. For those who are listening. This is Natalie and I’m not exactly sure is this can’t cool. So this is can’t

in Kent. Is your your

Natalie Franke 36:42
No kids like one of my best friends? Okay. The Great,

Devin 36:46
Great photo. Okay, great. So I just had to make sure just before I jumped on the so Natalie I want you to explain this photo. This is Natalie. And I guess so can’t in yard just swag it out right now. Like great portraits, like a nice, classic Vanity Fair. Hi, portrait, I would love for you to kind of explain what this is.

Natalie Franke 37:04
Okay, so a little bit of context. And this picture was taken a week before I had brain surgery. So we’ll just like leave it there to discuss at a later photo. I may or may not have seen. Yeah, but this is a photo of Kent. So Kent is, you know, one of my closest friends. I actually was just a bridesmaid at his wedding this weekend. So we spent nearly every waking minute together for six months, creating a blog. And that was just like such an incredible experiment in content creation. And just understanding how to use video to build a business. I learned so much about YouTube and analytics and the algorithm on YouTube and all of that. So it’s really, really fascinating to work with him on that project. But he’s just a dear friend. And actually, he, you know, worked with me at honey book for a while, and now has started his own social media company. And he’s crushing it. So yeah, so story behind that, but I love it. Okay, cool.

Devin 37:56
Okay, this next photo for those This is like you can you just, I guess could explain it. It looks pretty epic and awesome. And I love it. Yeah, just explain it.

Natalie Franke 38:05
So this is a photo in a salt flats in Utah, and we rented a big SUV, and in the photo, I am on the roof of the SUV, taking photographs. And in the distance we see Ken again, there’s a theme here, but we see someone out really far in the distance on the salt flats, you know, with a camera themselves. And so this was a moment where my husband, myself and Kent, all were traveling back across the country. And we were blogging the entire adventure. There is a vlog episode somewhere. I don’t know if we do show notes. I can send you the link. So you can actually watch this unfold. But we just were creating for the sake of creating; we were running around the salt flats, like a bunch of crazy photographers, just documenting having fun doing wheelies. And the salt, which I’m not. I don’t think you’re supposed to do so. Everyone from Utah? I was like, Oh, no. But yes, I think we did that. And it was about 100 some degrees, and it was insanely hot. So it’s kind of a cool photo, but just like a really great memory of a time where we’re just creating for the sake of it. Like just to have fun. Yes, I love it.

Devin 39:03
Okay, so you didn’t mention a little bit. And so like a little bit more. On a serious note, can you let everybody know what photo this is, this is a view in a hospital bed?

Natalie Franke 39:12
Yeah, so this is a photo of me in a hospital bed with a hairnet on. Really rocking my big grandma glasses, you ever spend, I am about 30 minutes from going in for surgery to remove a brain tumor. So a little less than a year ago, I ultimately share for the first time that I have been living with a benign brain tumor for most of my life. And, you know, it’s kind of a tough story. Because, again, it’s something that I never really shared publicly, we talk a lot about the lives we live, you know, on Instagram, versus what really is going on behind the scenes. And this was a huge part of what was going on behind the scenes. And so I had surgery, it went incredibly well. I’m obviously here today. And, you know, able to, I know, truly, and, you know, able to chat with you and all of that. And that’s all such a gift. And so yeah, that’s been a huge part of my journey over the last a year, truly. And I’m still recovering from some aspects of that surgery. But just, you know, a moment when I realized, I think how precious life is, and really am grateful for this chance to continue living it.

Devin 40:15
Yeah. So I’m just really quickly if we can just kind of like double click on this section of your life really quickly. Yeah, what kind of like, in what ways does surgery like this, or even like, just the reality of the fragility of life and things like that, bring into perspective, what you do, why you do it, and the important things in your life, you know,

Natalie Franke 40:35
Oh, changes everything. I mean, it absolutely changes everything. The minute you question whether you’re going to be alive, you know, in a day, or two days, or two weeks from now, it shifts everything, because you recognize, I think, a lot of things that don’t matter in your life. And you also, though, recognize the things that really do. And for me, I think one of the biggest lessons I took away was just time and how we like to think of time as something thing that is unending, and we like to think that we will always have tomorrow. And the truth is that time is our most precious and finite resource. It is the thing that we are constantly losing every single day. And it made me recognize, I think, just how much I valued relationships and, you know, my husband and time with my family, and how quickly I had given away my time in the past to things that didn’t matter saying yes, to opportunities that didn’t leave me closer to my goal, or working too late into the night, and not just spending time with, you know, my husband at dinner. And it’s like, these little things that I recognized very quickly, you know, I wish I could have gotten back. And the way I describe it is, you know, the minute I found out, I needed surgery, and I remember researching every potential complication, and every risk and everything like that I would have given anything for more time, I would have given anything, any amount of money, I would have given, you know, any opportunity, I would have given up every career chance that I’ve gotten, I would have given up every inch Instagram follower, I would have given up everything for more time with my husband, and for the promise that I would make it through that surgery. And it just was a wake-up call. And so I talked about this a lot when I do talks in person because I get really emotional. But

that’s the biggest takeaway I would have for just all of you guys is, you know, I hope no one ever has to go through this. And I hope no one has to experience this with a family member, which I think is can be equally as, if not harder. I think my husband had it harder than I did, you know, but when you do go through it, you learn very quickly that time is that one thing that you want to just hold on to and cherish with everything that you have. So, you know, it definitely influenced I think not only my personal perspective but also the urgency with which I do the work that I do because I believe what I do both at honey book and with rising tide is giving people time back and giving people time you know, to use in a way that they may be were misusing before and I’m so passionate about it, you know, it’s a part of my daily life. And I’m really grateful to get to do that.

Devin 42:57
That’s awesome. In I want to just, I’m sorry, but I’m going to live in just a little bit deeper. And I want to I want to ask this question. And it may, you may have already answered it, but what do you feel like the greatest gift that brain tumor gave to us?

Natalie Franke 43:09
So I would say faith, yeah, for me, you know, I think I really took my own personal relationship, you know, with the Lord for granted. And I had to learn what it meant to trust and to have faith

in a season where I, myself was, was weak, like, truly, you know, couldn’t rely on my own body, my body was failing me and desperately needed to have faith that things would work out, or at least that, you know, all of these fears. And these worries, I could no longer carry on my own shoulders, I had to kind of give them up. So for me, bottom line, like, that was the biggest lesson and then just seeing the overall redemption from like, the last year, and just what God has really done in my life. It has, I can’t even talk about it without crying. It has been

beyond anything that I deserved. And so I To this day, every day, I’m so grateful that I had a second chance to come out of that surgery and to continue doing what I love and with the people that I love and the glorious has on that one, because, you know, I was definitely, you know, unable to even fathom the next moment of the next hour, let alone get through it. So, so that’s the biggest takeaway, for sure. So amazing.

Devin 44:22
Okay, so the next photo, which is a little bit more lighthearted, I love it. So this I’m, I’m super excited about this is a picture with you and my man, Gary V. Max. Now, he’s not in my man in the sense that I know him. But I want to know him. I feel like I know him. But he is the man and let me tell you what, just real quick. I’m trying to get this dude on the podcast. Because, like so many times, like, he’s been like somebody like he gave me we build a podcast. And they’re like, he’s like, what episode. Are you on in your like, I was 30. Yeah. And he’s like, let me know when you get to like, 15 or 16, and I’ll be on it. And I’m like, I’m going to do it. Like, I just, I, I’m, I’m trying to get him on here. But for you, as you met him, you’d actually had him host like a host of talk for rising tide society conference. And so like, I would love to hear all of the things Gary Vee and you at this moment.

Natalie Franke 45:12
Oh, my gosh. Okay. So I’m a huge Gary be fan. I always have been, I’ve been watching his daily vlog forever. And, and I just again I him and I are very, very different. It’s funny. Whenever I say this, people are like, Really? You really like him? Like, are you sure? I’m said Yes, I do. Because I think he speaks his truth in a way that people are often afraid to. And despite his very rough initial exterior, he is an incredibly empathetic and incredibly hard working man. And his story alone. I mean, I was raised by a single mom, he, you know, came in into this country, you know, with immigrant parents, and really experienced hardship and discrimination and has like, overcome a lot of that and really built something. I think that you know, it employs a lot of people. And just, it’s inspiring; His story is incredibly inspiring. So I love him. Bottom line and I’ve wanted him to speak at something for rising tide for a very long time. Now, if anyone knows what this man gets paid to speak at a big event today, it’s insane and well deserved. And you you know, right away as well, that, you know, we run a little community like we again, we don’t have have any funds, we are not revenue generating anything we ever do, where we charge go straight to charity. And this summit was included. We were raising money for Pencils of Promise. So here’s what I did. Okay. This is a story of being told no, multiple times and refusing to give up. Yeah, I knew I want to Gary. So we emailed him, I got his email, through contacts, our PR company, everybody has a contact, we got an email, we emailed him and his assistant about the summit, no response. So I decided I wasn’t going to give up. I wanted to try something else. I made a landing page on our website; I asked all of our community members and our leaders to tweet at him and to Instagram’s message him as he had to speak at the summit. And to talk about the summit. So for an entire two days, that’s all that they did. And I’m talking hundreds of tweets, people making videos, Nisha Collins, who’s a photographer out of Florida, she’s made a video send it to Gary was like, please speak at the rising tide summit, all of these amazing Small Business Center sending in in messages. And you know, nothing, we still didn’t get a response from the team. I didn’t let that, you know, kind of, you know, stop me at that point, either. And so here’s where it just a little bit of magic comes in. And here’s where I believe, you know, there aren’t, there aren’t a lot of coincidences in life. I think this was sort of how it was supposed to unfold all along. But two days after asking the community to tweet at him and write him, my husband calls me in the office, and I’m at the honey book office, probably about 20 feet from where we’re sitting, doing this interview right now. And he says to me, hey, you’re not gonna believe this. But I was watching Gary Snapchat, and he’s sitting at Peet’s coffee, three blocks from where you are right now. He flew into San Francisco today. And he’s sitting with the CFO outside having a meeting at Pete’s can you run there? And I was like, Yes. So I grabbed my friend, Martha. We sprint out of the office; we run on all the way to Peet’s coffee. And there is Gary Vee at a table outside of the coffee shop. And I walked right up to him. And I did my best like you. Okay, you have to be cool right now. I reached out my hand. I shook his hand. I introduced myself, and I asked him to speak at the summit. And I told him, you know, we’re trying to raise money for charity. And he was, and I literally was like, we literally hustled Gary we hustled to get here, we just ran, you know, so he was incredibly kind. And he said, when’s the date? And, you know, can I just do a Q amp? A Can I do like a question? It’s not the repair anything. I said, whatever you want to do, we will accommodate. And he emailed his assistant right there and said, sign me up. I’m in for this rising tide, some in their lives, whatever they need, and the Cray here’s the craziest part about this whole story is in that moment, I didn’t tell him where we were raising the money for it was Pencils of Promise, as I mentioned, and, and when I got on the phone with his assistant for the first time, about a week after just to coordinate schedules, and make sure everything was, you know, in alignment, his assistant goes, Oh, okay. Pencils of Promise. That’s great. Is that why you you chose to Ask Gary to speak? And I said, What do you mean, why we chose to ask, you’re like, I just, I love Gary. Yeah. He said, Well, Gary’s on the board of Pencils of Promise. And it’s actually something that’s incredibly close to his heart. And I had no idea we had no idea. And he, when he agreed, had no idea that that’s who we were raising money for, either. So it was just like so many crazy moments between randomly seeing him on the sidewalk and getting to meet him. And then ultimately, to having him speak. And his support and being able to speak helped us to raise over $50,000, and we just finished building a school and Lao a couple of weeks ago as a result. So it’s just a crazy, crazy story. But one of the, one of the highlights, I think of my entire career. So amazing.

Devin 49:36
I love that story. And I love Hey, the perseverance to continue to press forward even when saying, No, there’s so many life lessons to learn in that and so that is amazing. Okay, so Natalie, I kind of wanted like, as we transition after this, I want to talk a little bit more about one we use honey book and we actually just transitioned from another service to honey book. And one of the main reasons why is because how much honey book cares, like, so there’s a bunch of services out there and the services do a great job and some of them Yes, sure. Some of them do it a little bit better than honey book, maybe maybe a little more robust. Maybe they just do it in a different way. But honey books is cares, and so for you, I would love to hear about like, Why Why did you guys partner rising tide society with honey book? And then also like, what’s it been like for you? Because I know like, it’s funny because I feel like people even think that you you run honey book as well. But like what is it like partnering with somebody like I think there’s what three people that partner together and honey book and then you kind of run the so what’s it like, like bringing your your gifts and your abilities into another business that isn’t your own and then running a section of that business you know, there’s so there’s like,

Natalie Franke 50:43
Oh my gosh, yeah. So to set the record straight I did not create honey, but found tiny bug and I’m not the CEO How do you buy it is funny because I’ve even seen people right long threads about how I’ve raised millions of dollars I’ve done all this stuff and I’m like, that’s not me like that. You know, like no, that’s not me. I mean, I wish it was new be wonderful to one day create a company that does this much good in the world. But no, I’m just I’m one component piece of it. That you know, I run and I love Um, but yeah, so, I mean, why did we choose honey book Look, it’s really simple. You kind of hit on it. And I talked about this a lot. But honey book is made up of some of the most incredible human beings I have ever met in my entire life. You know, this, two of the co-founders CEO and head of product, you know, they they had a dream to they both were small business owners, oz CEO ran a bar hosted parties and events. Now, MMA was a graphic designer freelancer, and they both are small business owners. They wanted to create something that really helped other small business owners. And they had an opportunity to create that company in the United States. And they were, they were living in Tel Aviv at the time. And in the span of one week, they had the audacity to leave everything behind and move to San Francisco to try and create this company. And with that, kind of, like passionate ambition and desire to do something, and to create something it mimics. I think that same spirit that I felt like I had on day one of my business. And I see in so many of the members that now are part of the honey but community. And so they’ve built honey book from the ground up with just this desire to change the way that work exists in this sort of the entire economy. The future of work they really believe is a small business and creative. And you know, it’s funny, I remember having a conversation with the CEO bout a week before we officially officially partnered for the first time and or went up in that same week. But we had a whole conversation about, you know, this is going to sound kind of silly and kind of sci-fi. But we talked about what about when robots take over. And the idea of like, I live in San Francisco, their self-driving cars on every street, and it will not be long before we don’t drive any longer. And, you know, all of these jobs in the trucking industry, all of these Uber drivers that right now are loving their side hustle and that gig economy are going to go away. Because the first person to buy all those autonomous vehicles is going to be Uber, it’s going to be Lyft. And it’s going to companies that can replace human labor. And so we started to have a conversation about what is the future of work for our children. And, you know, we kept coming back to these incredibly beautiful and sort of, like, core fundamental values that we believe in, when it comes to the creative space, and humans ability to create and to innovate, and to dream and to make with their hands and with their hearts. And you know, I’m coming from the photography space. I believe this wholeheartedly. It doesn’t matter how good these iPhones get. At the end of the day, I’m not being hired just for my ability to capture a photo and being hired for my ability to document a visual history and legacy and to connect with other humans and to be there for them and support them on one of the most momentous days of their life. And whether it’s that or you’re a calligrapher, and you are, you know, creating something unique, this space, this creative economy that we live in, and we work in, it’s the future, it’s the future of human work. It is a space where people are able to truly express their ideas. And we believe wholeheartedly as well that art artists, creatives in general, small business owners, they’re the individuals really changed communities and change the world. So when they stand up together, and they want to change something that they don’t like, and they’re they’re seeing reflected, they actually are the ones that can do it. It’s not the big companies that can do it, despite what we often think. And so we just had this honest conversation about it. And I just remember feeling so at home with these people that really wanted to do good in the world. And we’re willing to work as hard as they had to work to make it happen. So for me, Look, I love our product. I think it’s incredible. And there are products that do the same thing, their products that are more robust or price or less robust, their products all across the market that are wonderful. And actually, we are friends with a know a lot of the founders and CEOs of those other companies. And we love what they’re doing. And we incredibly admire their hard work and their effort. At the end of the day, though, for me, it comes down to the people at this company, and how much they care and how much they really want to build something that benefits the people that they serve. And that’s why I got feedback. Like, I’ve witnessed feedback sessions to go on for hours with members that have listened to lists of things they want, you know, added improved changed, and I get to hit is the product team, like, take all of that feedback and say, Okay, how do we prioritize this? So we can actually start building this product for this person. It’s not about, you know, signing up 10s of thousands of new members, it’s about the individual, you know, Sarah, or James or Devin, who is building a business and trying to achieve their family and their local community, and how do we how do we help them to live their life in a way that enables them to do that? And then I go back to time, and how do we give them their time back, because that is truly the one thing that we can never get back. We can always make more money, we can always book more clients, we can always transition and change our small businesses. But at the end of the day, we can’t get those hours back with our kids or with our loved ones, or, you know, with the people that we care about that time is fleeting, and so I passionately care about this company in this product for that reason. And it always it goes back to the people, right, it’s software, software, it gets the job done, but as the humans behind this product, I think they are really the impressive, impressive ones. And the members that we’re serving are just rock stars and just insane. So no, I was a little bit of a ramble but

Devin 56:02
very passionate about it. No, I love it. And, and that’s the thing is like, I think we can sense that passion especially as people ramble. Like, they Bramble about what they like, you know, the Bible says, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. And so I think it’s one of those things where, like, you overflow like, you love what you do, and you love the company. And I think like it’s natural to ramble about that. So that’s amazing girl ramble on. I don’t care has awesome. Okay, I love it. And now one thing I do so I love to keep this fairly practical as far as like, I want I want I wanted to like something in this conversation like so actually a lot in this conversation is going to help people to understand who they are better in their run their business. But I think like really, practically, you talked about just a little bit while ago, you talked about how you ran like a blog and you learn a lot about video and how that can be implemented into your business and things like that really quickly. I think what is one way that somebody listening can use video, I’m sorry, just kind of throw this on you. But what’s a way that somebody can use video to really improve their business and the way that they want either market themselves? Or just show what they do? And show love for people? I don’t know. So like, what, what do you think?

Natalie Franke 57:07
Yeah, absolutely. Well, first, I want to say that video is the future of marketing. It’s not a secret if you look at where platforms are investing their money. If you look at even Instagram, how people used to use the platform, we used to scroll up and down like and comment on photos. Now, what happens is we scroll left to the right. And we watched stories one after another. And so you know, even when I talk to people about, Hey, stop blaming the algorithm for the fact that you’re not getting engagement and start to understand that people are no longer commenting and liking on photos like they used to, they’re now absorbing that Instagram story content. And that’s taking away the time that they used to spend looking at your content, right. So truly, like at a really high level, the first thing I just want to get across here is that video is the future of marketing. Now, how can you actually start to implement this in your business, there are so many different ways, but I really believe it’s first by looking at where your users are consuming digital video. So if your clients or your customers are on Instagram, and they’re planning they’re on Instagram, for instance, it might look like you really taking the time to start building out an Instagram story strategy. And it could be so simple at first I’m talking behind the scenes on you know, your shoots that you’re doing, or you’re in your office when you’re editing or whatever it is, as you have products like albums, if you’re showcasing those or whatever the work is that you’re doing, documenting that sort of real-life stuff, what you’re working on, and then also just allowing your personality to kind of shine through. And I hear from a lot of people, they say, oh, gosh, I hate being on camera. I hate putting my face out there does this mean I have to do my makeup does this mean I have to, you know, look put together. And here’s the truth. I think at the end of the day; we want to see you we want to see humans, you know, a brand is fantastic. But when I get to know that there are people behind it. Like I mentioned with honey book like I’ve experienced in my own personal brand. It changes the entire landscape of how you communicate, and the amount of brand loyalty and affinity that you generate. And so I would say get on Instagram stories, start experimenting with that if you have access to creating longer form content, you know, maybe you create your YouTube channel, and you start creating videos. And you know it just depends. I like stories. Because look, it’s simple, no editing required. You hold up your phone, you talk right into it, or you document what’s going on. And it is so easy. There is no excuse that businesses couldn’t be leveraging Instagram stories. And you know, I even see really like different forms. Even Bloomberg News, like the way they’re using stories, to really engage the audience to really make them want to learn more. It’s teaching me a lot about how I can improve my own my way of doing it. But that’s what I’d say is just start. Also, don’t allow insecurities about how you look or how you talk or what you see Mike on video stop you from starting to implement it. The biggest thing that holds people back is their fear of even getting started. But my God, just does it. Take that step. Learn as you go experiment, don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t be afraid to look silly. I look silly all the time on my Instagram stories. But sometimes those are the stories that people must relate to. And the ones I get the most feedback on. And so that would be my advice. Start with Instagram stories. And then you know, if you find that you really love the video, and it lends itself to helping you connect better than a vlog might be a good option. Or creating tutorial videos for clients or whatever it is embedding it into blog content, you name it, there are so many ways to use that video content.

Devin 1:00:15
Cool. I love it. So good. And I think you’re 100% right. It is the future. And and as far as like, that’s concerned is I think I find that even most people are watching store or like watching the stories and the videos that go on the stories way more than they’re scrolling through the feed. And so that’s just kind of the future where it’s heading to. And so I’m really curious to see how that’s gonna play out with like, even like Instagram’s attempt to take over YouTube, which didn’t go too well. But now I didn’t see how that goes with the future. Because Facebook and Instagram are always trying to take over the world anyways. Okay, so as we kind of land this plane, this has been absolutely amazing. I swear to ask a couple more questions. And then we have like a speed round. Is that cool with you? Sounds good. Natalie, you’re amazing. Thank you. Okay, so the first one I think is like, what is a foundation characteristic? Did you think an entrepreneur or solar printer, I don’t want to say necessarily needs to have to make it because I don’t think there’s a cut and dry characteristic? But what do you think a real is a really important characteristic that entrepreneur needs to have to continue to make it in this kind of in this industry or in this world. I like not even just sticking to photography in general

Natalie Franke 1:01:19
Resilience, one-word resilience, the ability to fail and get back up again. And it’s a complete illusion to believe that any entrepreneur that you look up to has not failed more times. And they’ve succeeded. And I really believe having the resilience to consistently pick yourself back up and push forward is the thing that every entrepreneur truly needs to have to be successful. Yeah, that’s amazing.

Devin 1:01:42
Okay, let’s head into the speed round. Okay, so one is what’s your favorite source of inspiration?

Natalie Franke 1:01:50
Oh, this is hard, because, you know, it really has changed a lot with just different seasons. And I Yes, yeah, I would tell you, it used to be just like consuming art. I like I took our a ton of art history classes in college. I really love going to museums, but I have not had any time to do that in the last five years of my life. So what I would say, to be really honest, is just, I guess, different types of artists. So I love music. I’m really sort of moved by, by music. I’m constantly trying to discover sort of, like new artists and just different artists. And even listening to like some of my grandfathers and dad’s old favorites. It’s been kind of an interesting journey too. So I love music as a form of inspiration. But I also just find, I think, stories and people stories to be incredibly inspiring, and ultimately, you know, kind of life-giving to me. So we did something recently called 20 on the rise, which was joking like, it’s our version of a Forbes 30 under 30. But it’s our list of rising creatives and their voices, and just highlighting them and using our platform to kind of elevate new and fresh faces in the industry because I love it. All my friends always make those top 10 lists. But let’s be honest, there are so many insanely talented folks that never get the spotlight. And so that was our attempt to try to shake things up. And those stories, the stories of you know, a soldier who came home and decided he wanted to help people celebrate the best moments of their lives after experiencing some of the most traumatic and, you know, him launching one of the most successful

events planning companies on the East Coast, actually, maybe in the country, you know, to hear stories of an artist who lost her hearing while in college, and who basically created art and she calls it her white noise series, Kelsey Glaser who, you know, now basically paints to her experience and has really inspired a lot of people and in rising tide has really pushed us to be more accessible now. We do caption on our summit’s and on our videos to ensure that we are being accessible to, you know, the hearing impaired and ASL community. And so just those types of stories for me, inspire me. Bottom line. That’s amazing.

Devin 1:03:49
Okay, what’s your favorite way to learn?

Natalie Franke 1:03:52
Oh gosh, I you know, I would say hands on. I really like sort of a tactile experience, like getting to actually build, create, navigate my way through everything from a camera to you know, tack and understanding like, oh, explain to me how this works and seeing how their coding and you know, maybe even trying it myself I I really love learning by doing

Devin 1:04:10
So cool. Alright, so Canon or Nikon. Nikon easy respect. Okay. So iPhone or Android iPhone. Nice to for to so far not that I’m counting anything Pepsi or coke or do you even drink soda?

Natalie Franke 1:04:24
I gave up a Diet Pepsi. I used to love my Diet Pepsi. I gave it up. So now say, Lacroix,

Natalie Franke 1:04:34
Okay. Alright, truth. I have always been a dog person. But my sister recently rescued the world’s cutest little Persian cat. So I’m kind of becoming in the middle like in the middle. I don’t know what’s called that but

Devin 1:04:46
I’ll talk personally I’ll take their like the majority of people say dogs would I will 100% say cat. So I’ll take that. Thank you. Finally. Somebody who feels me a little bit. Okay, so favorite music So I love that you said one of your biggest sources of inspiration is music even classical grandfather’s music thing like that. What’s your favorite either song album artist whatever right now so like

Natalie Franke 1:05:08
What is hooked? I am hooked on Lauren Daigle right now

Unknown 1:05:11
I guys

Devin 1:05:13
Catherine is like best right now that new CD came out fine I know

Natalie Franke 1:05:17
and I look I’m not normally something that will listen to like you know Christian music on repeat I’m really really not her album is unbelievable like I felt like I was listening to Adele like mixed with just so I don’t know I just listened to learn Daigle and then y’all let me know anything

Devin 1:05:34
yeah Catherine 100% that’s all she’s listening to you right now, so I love it okay now Alexa Google Home our home How did she still hear me day never every time oh my gosh we have

Natalie Franke 1:05:46
I think we have a Google the Google Home because I say OK Google so yes whatever that one is. My husband got it I don’t know I just know we unplug it most of the time because I feel like it’s listening to us

Devin 1:05:55
It’s always listening I like to tell this joke like back in the 50s people would be like alright hey you know keep like Watch out when you’re on the phone because your phone might be wiretap and then now we’re like hey wiretap what’s the temperature outside. You know, like, we just like don’t even care. I love the fact that you unplug it. That’s really funny.

Natalie Franke 1:06:13
Yeah, we’re weird. I know.

Devin 1:06:15
Okay. Amazon, music, Spotify, Apple Music, and Spotify. Okay. All right. And then Now lastly, Natalie, can you get like, what’s one final thing you would like to leave the audience with? Just one thing? And then also, where can people find you?

Natalie Franke 1:06:31
Yea h, so the one thing I would leave the audience with the moon, we’ve touched on this so many times. But look, here’s the truth, your time is incredibly valuable. And you only have a little bit of it. And I would just want to leave you with understanding that every day when you wake up, you have an opportunity to live out your purpose, and a truly, truly do what you love. And I want you to seize that. And so it doesn’t mean every day is going to be great. And every day, you’re going to do exactly what you want to do with your life. I understand the hard work that goes into building a business. But it does mean that you know that that work you’re doing is leading into something great. And so that’s what I want to leave you with. And then I would love to connect with everybody. I mean, look, the easiest place if you want to check out honey book is just to go to honey book and all social media, honey, book calm. And then all of the platforms, rising tides, the same thing. So rising tide is honey book. com slash, rising tide, one word, and then obviously rising tide society on all social platforms. But if you want to connect personally as well, I’m always up to help you and your business. It’s at Natalie. Frank and Frank has an E at the end. So don’t be fooled. If you think Oh, wait, that’s not so funny spelling. I know it’s a funny spelling. We have no idea why there’s any that we don’t pronounce, but it is there hanging out. So at Natalie Frank on Instagram and Facebook and I would just love the opportunity to connect with you guys and just support you any way that I can.

Devin 1:07:41
Oh, so amazing. Thank you so much for being on the show today. I mean, you are a straight fire girl straight fire. So thank you. I appreciate you being on and everything that you do. I can’t speak highly enough.

Natalie Franke 1:07:52
Oh, thank you so much. Have a great day. Thanks,

Devin 1:07:56
Guys. Let me just tell you. I hope you enjoyed that episode as much as I did. Because that girl is fire. She’s a force to be reckoned with. She’s absolutely making waves, and I mean I’m just so thankful to have had her on this episode. I hope you guys have enjoyed her as well. If you have make sure you check her out on Instagram on on Facebook rising tide Natalie Frank all of those things because you’re gonna want to learn from her you’re going to want to soak up all the things she has to say because she really doesn’t matter what platform or what you do she can speak wisdom and knowledge into that and I’m super thankful for that make sure that you do that also we talked a little bit about honey book that is the client management system we use, and we actually switched over from today we’ve done all different types of client management systems we absolutely love honey book just because of the fact that they love us they care about us and they really treat as well and they listen to us there’s so many positive things I could say about it but if you want a product that houses your contracts payments and your all of your correspondence with your clients book is the way to go if you want 50% off of your first year using honey book you can either follow the link in our show notes or go to share dot honey book.com backslash Devin eight to four. Again, that’s share done honey book. com backslash Devin 824 to get 50% off of your first year. We are huge fans of it. We really think that it is something that I mean like they’re doing a great job in what they do. And they care. Like that’s just the biggest part of it now and again guys, thank you so much for checking out this podcast. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. If you’ve enjoyed it, make sure to give it a five-star rating or whatever your podcast platform is. Make sure you share this with your friends. And also make sure that you use what you learn today to transform your business to give you the lifestyle you’ve always wanted. So thank you so much for listening guys. We can’t wait to see you in the next episode. Have a great week.